History:Black Friday (1855)
Black Friday was a financial crisis in San Francisco on February 23, 1855, caused by the failure of the bank Page, Bacon & Co., along with a deteriorating local economy. This resulted in a run on the banks in the city, resulting in the failure of 9 out of 17 of San Francisco's banks. 200 other businesses failed as a result.[1][2]
Bank Run
On 17 February, news arrived in San Francisco of the failure of the main branch of the bank Page, Bacon & Co.'s in St. Louis. Although the problem was not as severe as originally reported, a steady bank run commenced over the next 3 days, with the bank paying about $600,000 in gold on the first day alone, with the bank going under late the next week. [3] Archibald Alexander Ritchie was one of the 25 businessmen elected to attempt to calm investors and the public. .[2] A man named Henry Haight, who drinking excessively during the crisis, spouted rumors that "all the banks [in San Francisco] would break". [4]At this time, William Tecumseh Sherman was a bank manager in San Francisco, running a branch of Lucas, Turner & Co, also based in St Louis. Through his strong conservative management, the bank survived the crisis, in part because of help and support from Sherman's old West Point classmates, who helped the bank recover afterwards.
References
- ↑ Sherman, William (1855). Memoirs of William T. Sherman. pp. 88 107 111 116 118.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Goerke-Shrode 2004.
- ↑ Sherman 1885.
- ↑ Mcdonough, James (2016). William Tecumseh Sherman. p. 191.
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